A Dahlia Amongst the Daisies and Marigolds

Flaring Tempers

"Where we go?" Paloma asks Viktor as she enters the car, attempting to twist her braid into a bun so she could easily tuck it into the cap. Maybe she should cut her hair, not as short as the hair a lot of women were sporting now but something shorter than her waist length locks.

"Docks." The older man responds as he starts to drive. "Got trouble."

Trouble usually meant someone was being a problem, like they were late on payments, or stole a shipment, or as she had recently saw - someone was almost going to expose them. It had been maybe two months at this point since she joined in this, and it was worth it. The extra money was good, it paid better than the cooking job she had but that didn't mean she was gonna quit it just yet. Thankfully her grandfather had been going to sleep early, giving her time to sneak out of the house when Viktor needed her help with something.

"Need glasses man?" She asks as she manages to twist the braid into a bun and tuck it under her cap. "Ugh, need chop hair."

"Yes, he come with us." Viktor responds. "And maybe hair need cutting."

Mordecai was waiting for them outside of the diner, looking at his watch in annoyance before he got into the car. "You're late." He comments as he snapped the watch closed before tucking it away and seats himself in the front seat.

"Grandfather no sleep." Paloma responds as the car peels away from the curb. "Wait too long."

"Your English is better now."

"Gracias."

They drove the rest of the way in silence, until they arrived at a large dock where another car was waiting and a man stood next to it, clutching a small gun in his hands.

"Be ready." Mordecai warns as the car comes to a stop. "No shooting yet. Paloma, stay here just in case."

The younger woman huffs in response but does as she is told, watching as the two men got out to talk to the other man, who was looking very frightened. As they talked, the new man suddenly points his gun at an unphased Mordecai, who calmly shoves it aside and Viktor snatches it and tosses it to the ground. Paloma immediately scoots to the right side of the car as the man is grabbed and dragged to the back of the car and shoved into the backseat with her.

"Tie up please, and keep him quiet." Mordecai says as he enters the front of the car.

The man sobs as Paloma grabbed the rope by her feet and starts to tie it around his wrists and around his arms before grabbing a large piece of cloth to tie it around his mouth in attempt to silence him. Viktor is outside, attempting to do something with the other car before it lurches right into the river.

"Where we go now?" Paloma asks Mordecai as their companion returns to the car.

"Somewhere far, and you have the honors tonight to do something useful." The older man responds as Viktor gets back inside the car. Guess tonight was her turn to dispose of this man after the two were done interrogating him.

As they are driving, the bound and gagged man starts edging away from his side of the backseat. Paloma just shifts herself towards the door, trying not to kick the seat in front of her.

"What are you doing?" Mordecai asks.

"Move." She responds. "Crybaby move too close."

The older man glances behind and frowns. "I told you to sit to the left. A bit of common courtesy - is that so much to ask while we are chauffeuring you about?"

Oh boy, he was about to go into one of those rants again. One thing Paloma had learned from being around Mordecai was that he liked order, things had to be specifically perfect. For one, he would prefer if there were three people in the car, whoever sat in the backseat had to sit exactly in the middle and it was either her or him. The one time she even dared to sit a little more to the left or right, he looked ready to yell. She wasn't sure exactly was up with him to be so obsessed with things by symmetrically perfect, but it was often better to do what he asked. At least to her, a calm and quiet Mordecai was a better Mordecai to deal with than an agitated one.